Chaos reign as glitches in CoWin app continues

Three days since the vaccination centres have stopped entertaining walk-ins, chaos still reigns as glitches in app continues. Many senior citizens who have been unable to book appointment slots online have not been allowed walk-in slots are suffering.

"My mother's first dose of vaccine was done successfully via walk-in. However, now that walk-ins are not allowed, I cannot take appointment for my mother who is 75 years old. The second dose option shows a cross against it not allowing me to book a slot. I have been visiting vaccination centres for help if they can allow walk-ins for cases like my mothers but in vain. There is nobody I can ask and get this resolved, the CoWin helpline nobody answers," said Shailaja Mankar, resident of Andheri.

Whereas there are cases where many who have successfully booked slots online, got messages confirming the same and after waiting in a queue for hours, find that their slots have not been booked at all. "I had booked the slot, got a message, after wading through the queues on Friday, I finally reached the verification and payment counter, where I was told, they can't see my booking. It was such a waste of time," said another beneficiary.

Due to limited vaccine supply and demand for online booking, many senior citizens have said that their appointments are getting cancelled. Anukul Tiwari (68) and his wife are residents of Parel who got their first dose in March and the second dose was due in the first week of April. However, one week before the appointment, Tiwari received an SMS saying that his appointment has been cancelled.

"We received our first dose at a BMC facility and have scheduled our second appointment using the CoWin platform. After the appointment got cancelled we have been trying to book another appointment but it's not working," said Tiwari

"Slots in online registration are full in no time. Despite multiple attempts of booking, we have been unable to book a slot till now," said Rakesh Kumar, who has been trying to book an appointment for a second dose for his parents.

"I requested the administration to allow walk-ins for citizens above 45 years so that they can show the certificate of their first dose and get the jab," said Ravi Raja, Congress corporator and leader of opposition in the BMC.